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“I honestly knew we were going to win,” the former Brackenridge standout said after a Tuesday morning practice at Farris Stadium. “We never give up.”

Holmes said the team weathered the pressure because UTSA practiced so often on 100-degree afternoons during fall camp.

Also, he suggested that UTSA's first victory on the road had a lot to do with having heart.

“We just keep fighting,” Holmes said.

Since UTSA formed the team in 2010, Hicks and Holmes have battled their way into the playing rotation.

Hicks left Division II West Texas A&M after a year and came to UTSA as a walk-on in 2010.

After the team's practice season, he played in eight games in 2011, appearing mostly on special teams.

During the bus ride from the hotel to the stadium before the game, he told fellow receiver Kam Jones that he wanted to score just once this year.

Jones said he turned to his friend and replied, “You're going to get it.”

Surprisingly, the TD came late in the first quarter when quarterback Eric Soza called Hicks' number and hit him with a perfect spiral in stride to give the Roadrunners a 14-7 lead.

“It felt great,” said Hicks, who scored 17 touchdowns in his senior year at Bandera. “Everybody did their job. The line blocked well. Eric Soza threw a great ball, and all I had to do was catch it. It was one of the best feelings in my life.”

A member of UTSA's first signing class in February 2010, Holmes also has traveled a long road to notoriety with the Roadrunners.

During spring practice in 2011, he suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder that required surgery.

Holmes was forced to sit out the first four games of the inaugural season and caught only three passes the rest of the year.

A promising target with his height, at 6-foot-5, he served notice of his arrival in the season opener when he went up to snare a 41-yard pass late in the third quarter.

It was nullified because of a chop block.

A few minutes later, UTSA went to Holmes again, and he grabbed the TD pass from Soza to give the Roadrunners a 27-24 lead with nine minutes remaining.

“That's a credit to those kids,” UTSA offensive coordinator Kevin Brown said. “Coach (Larry Coker) has confidence that they can go get it on fourth-and-6, and they responded.”